The 10,000 hour rule

Discussion in 'Professional Trading' started by Port1385, Jan 24, 2009.

How many hours does it take to master trading?

  1. Less then 1000

    6 vote(s)
    7.4%
  2. 1000-2000

    3 vote(s)
    3.7%
  3. 2000-4000

    2 vote(s)
    2.5%
  4. 4000-6000

    6 vote(s)
    7.4%
  5. 6000-8000

    4 vote(s)
    4.9%
  6. 8000-10000

    8 vote(s)
    9.9%
  7. 10000-12000

    16 vote(s)
    19.8%
  8. 12000-14000

    1 vote(s)
    1.2%
  9. 14000+

    35 vote(s)
    43.2%
  1. Read this book when it first came out..... check it out......

    Outliers: The Story of Success
    by Malcolm Gladwell

    http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/outliers_excerpt1.html

    Talks about how Bill Gates and some of the big computer honchos had 10,000 hrs of programing before anybody in the world! That little advantage seemed to help.
     
    #11     Jan 25, 2009
  2. Not sure about mastering (im sure the consistently profitable 'master' traders also have moment that they feel like they have a long way to go), i think thats a lifetime endeavor as there is always something new to learn and something else to make a mistake on.

    Dont worry too much about mastering. Just make sure you are constantly learning from your mistakes and improving your trading. Its small steps at a time.

    As for becoming a decent/profitable trader, it all depends on the person. However, in my opinion. It takes at least a few thousand hours to get a basic feel of the price action and one's own emotions.

    But if its taking to 10240004203+ hours and one still isn't a decent trader (profitable), something is wrong and needs changing.
     
    #12     Jan 25, 2009
  3. Mr J

    Mr J

    It's silly to make such a generalisation. People learn at highly variable rates. Take poker for example, some people are immediately profitable, while others take months or perhaps never become profitable. I'd consider the same for trading - despite what others may think, I believe some can become a profitable traders quite quickly. Some people have a knack for picking up new things, perhaps it's just something they 'get' etc.

    10,000 on average? Nobody knows. We're playing a guessing game here.
     
    #13     Feb 1, 2009
  4. You are right. Some people can pick up things rather quickly. There are many people who made it big in their 20s with very little experience in the world. However, these people are the exception and not the rule. When I say the 10,000 hour rule, I mean the average person.

    You can walk into a prop firm with a 100 people sitting down, but how many out of that 100 were able to master trading within a year? I would say about 5-10% of that group, if that.

    The other question is how many people out there simply never get it.

    Mark Twain never got it and simply gave up after losing a fortune on the train bubble.

    10,000 hours/9 hours per day/6 days per week=3.5 years

    Tim Knight didnt become profitable until a few years ago and he had traded since 1987. He founded prophet.net and had been closely involved with the markets and charting. He developed online trading platforms and did a stint at Apple. Despite all his experience and knowledge, he wasnt profitable until a few years ago.

    Make no mistake, it takes a long long time for someone to become profitable.
     
    #14     Feb 1, 2009
  5. ehmoran

    ehmoran

    Also, HOW long does it take to MASTER HISTORY????

    Lets see, you could probalby skim the required info, but someone specializing in a specific Historic event would know much more than you and make you sound like an idiot.

    A person could never read all the History Books written over the PAST 100 years, never mind 2000 years.

    Heck, how many never make it through the BIBLE???
     
    #15     Feb 1, 2009
  6. Bible is fantasy fiction. What's your point?
     
    #16     Feb 1, 2009
  7. ehmoran

    ehmoran

    Well, its the BASIS of MORALS.

    If you reject the Commandments, the first one should be "Though Shalt not Kill" and delete that law from the books.

    What I'm saying is that lately, Americans can't finish what they start. Their WORD is no longer their BOND. And, basically, they want everything given to them at no cost and believe a so-called TRUTH is as stated; even one that goes against all the FACTS.
     
    #17     Feb 1, 2009
  8. Bull. I was brought up without religion, and I'm a very moral person.
     
    #18     Feb 1, 2009
  9. ehmoran

    ehmoran

    I never said you weren't.

    But at one point in the history of your family, the GOODNESS taught in the Bible was part of there LIVES and those morals were pasted down?

    But that's not what we're on this post for is to talk about religion and TEAR each other down.

    We're here to share knowledge and information to help each other through this MESS.

    Aren't WE????
     
    #19     Feb 1, 2009
  10. Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years

    Peter Norvig

    http://norvig.com/21-days.html



    Mostly deals with programming, but talks about 10 years or 10,000 hours to attain expertise in many areas and 8,000 hours to be merely good, and 4,000 hours to become a teacher in the same field.

    Knowing what to do and actually doing it are two different things as he says here:


    "With all that in mind, its questionable how far you can get just by book learning. Before my first child was born, I read all the How To books, and still felt like a clueless novice. 30 Months later, when my second child was due, did I go back to the books for a refresher? No. Instead, I relied on my personal experience, which turned out to be far more useful and reassuring to me than the thousands of pages written by experts."
     
    #20     Feb 1, 2009